For Sale: Baby shoes, Never Worn.
—Ernest Hemingway
Famous Six Word Stories
Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket. William Shatner
Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer? - Eileen
Gunn
Longed for him. Got him. Shit. - Margaret Atwood
With bloody hands I say good-bye. - Frank Miller
Famous Six Word Stories
Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth. - Vernor
Vinge
It’s behind you! Hurry before it - Rockne S. O’Bannon
Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses. Richard Powers
The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly. - Orson Scott Card
We went solar; sun went nova. - Ken MacLeod
Famous Six Word Stories
TIME MACHINE REACHES FUTURE!!! … nobody there … Harry Harrison
Tick tock tick tock tick tick. - Neal Stephenson
New genes demand expression -- third eye. - Greg Bear
whorl. Help! I'm caught in a time - Darren Aronofsky and Ari
Handel
Bang postponed. Not Big enough. Reboot. - David Brin
Famous Six Word Stories
I saw, darling, but do lie. - Orson Scott Card
Time traveler's thought: "What's the password?" - Steven
Meretzky
Steve ignores editor's word limit and - Steven Meretzky
Dorothy: "Fuck it, I'll stay here." - Steven Meretzky
6 minutes for a 6 word story
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Slam please
5 minutes
I, Me, Myself
15 minutes
Character Assassination
Knock! Knock!
10 min
A scream from the bedroom
10 min
Bell rings! Lion at the door
10 mins
You did it!
No we did.
Character Development
17th Meetup – 7th January 2012
By Rohin Bhargava
Ram
Tom & Jerry
Molly Bloom
Joey
Alex
Jason Bourne
Tom Swayer
Emma
Neo
Forrest Gump
Harry Potter
Robert Langdon
Sherlock Holmes
Wolverine
Frodo
Holden Caulfield
Gandalf
Moby Dick
Don Corleone
Edward Scissorhands
Kabuliwallah
Lolita
Krishna
Dorthy
Voldermort
Charles Foster Kane
Humbert Humbert
Howard Roark
Tintin
Mad Hatter
Jughead
Erin Brockovich
James Bond
Cinderella
Devdas
David Copperfield
Yossarian
Peter Pan
Pi Patel
Anand
Jason Bourne
Raj
Gollum
Character Sketch
When you write a character sketch, you are trying to introduce the reader to someone.
You want the reader to have a strong mental image of the person, to know how the
person talks, to know the person's characteristic ways of doing things, to know
something about the person's value system. Character sketches only give snap shots of
people; therefore, you should not try to write a history of the person.
A good way to write a character sketch is to tell a little story about one encounter you
had with him or her. If you do that, you could describe a place briefly, hopefully a place
that belongs to the person you are describing, focusing on things in the scene that are
somehow representative of the person you are describing. Describe how the person is
dressed. Then simply tell what happened as you spent time together. From time to time,
describe the person's gestures or facial expressions. It is important to put words into the
person's mouth in direct quotations.
As you work on this paper, you should decide what kind of emotional reaction you want
the reader to have in relationship to this person. What kind of details can you select to
create that emotional reaction? Avoid making broad characterizing statements; instead,
let the details you give suggest general characteristics. Let the reader draw her own
conclusions.
Types of Characters
Protagonist
The terms protagonist, main character and hero are variously defined and,
depending on the source, may denote different concepts. In fiction, the story of the
protagonist may be told from the perspective of a different character (who may also,
but not necessarily, be the narrator).
Often, the protagonist in a narrative is also the same person as the focal character,
though the two terms are distinct. Excitement and intrigue alone is what the
audience feels toward a focal character, while a sense of empathy about the
character's objectives and emotions is what the audience feels toward the
protagonist.
Although the protagonist is often referred to as the "good guy", it is entirely possible
for a story's protagonist to be the clear villain, or antihero, of the piece.
Types of Characters
Antagonist
Antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the
opposition against which the protagonist must contend. In other words, 'A
person, or a group of people who oppose the main character, or the main
characters.’ In the classic style of story wherein the action consists of a hero
fighting a villain, the two can be regarded as protagonist and antagonist,
respectively.
The antagonist may also represent a major threat or obstacle to the main
character by their very existence, without necessarily deliberately targeting him
or her.
Types of Characters
Focal Character
The focal character is the the focal character is the character on whom the
audience is meant to place the majority of their interest and attention. He
or she is almost always also the protagonist of the story; however, in cases
where the "focal character" and "protagonist" are separate, the focal
character's emotions and ambitions are not meant to be empathized with
by the audience to as high an extent as the protagonist (this is the main
difference between the two character terms).
The focal character is mostly created to simply be the "excitement" of the
story, though not necessarily the main character about whom the audience
is emotionally concerned. The focal character is, more than anyone else,
"the person on whom the spotlight focuses; the center of attention; the
man whose reactions dominate the screen."
Types of Characters
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story is the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal
entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within
the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one
of three entities responsible for story-telling of any kind. The others are the author and
the audience; the latter called the "reader" when referring specifically to literature.
The author and the audience both inhabit the real world. It is the author's function to
create the universe, people, and events within the story. It is the audience's function to
understand and interpret the story. The narrator only exists within the world of the story
(and only there—although in non-fiction the narrator and the author can share the same
persona, since the real world and the world of the story may be the same) and present it
in a way the audience can comprehend.
A narrator may tell the story from his own point of view (as a fictive entity) or from the
point of view of one of the characters in the story.
Types of Characters
Supporting Character
A supporting character is a character of a book, play, video game, movie,
television or radio show or other form of storytelling usually used to give
added dimension to a main character, by adding a relationship with this
character. Sometimes supporting characters may develop a complexity of
their own, but this is usually in relation to the main character, rather than
entirely independently.
In some cases, especially in ongoing material such as comic books and
television series, supporting characters themselves may become main
characters in a spin-off if they are sufficiently popular with fans.
Supporting characters help the plot of a story and enhance the plot
Types of Characters
Foil Characters
In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another
character (usually the antagonist) in order to highlight particular
qualities of the other character. A foil's complementary role may
be emphasized by physical characteristics. A foil usually differs
drastically.
Popular fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, is tall and lean; his
right-hand man Doctor Watson, meanwhile, is often described
as "middle-sized, strongly built." The "straight man" in a comedy
duo is a comic foil. While the straight man portrays a reasonable
and serious character, the other portrays a funny, dumb, or
simply unorthodox one.
Types of Characters
Dynamic Characters
A dynamic, or round, character is a major character in a work of fiction who
encounters conflict and is changed by it. Dynamic characters tend to be more
fully developed and described than flat, or static, characters. If you think of the
characters you most love in fiction, they probably seem as real to you as people
you know in real life.
Static Characters
Static characters are minor characters in a work of fiction who do not undergo
substantial change or growth in the course of a story. Also referred to as "twodimensional characters" or "flat characters," they play a supporting role to the
main character, who as a rule should be round, or complex.
Types of Characters
Flat Characters
A flat character is a minor character in a work of fiction who does not undergo
substantial change or growth in the course of a story. Also referred to as "twodimensional characters" or "static characters," flat characters play a supporting
role to the main character, who as a rule should be round.
Round Characters
A round character is a major character in a work of fiction who encounters
conflict and is changed by it. Round characters tend to be more fully developed
and described than flat, or static, characters. If you think of the characters you
most love in fiction, they probably seem as real to you as people you know in
real life. This is a good sign that they are round characters.
A writer employs a number of tools or elements to develop a character, making
him or her round, including description and dialogue. A character's responses
to conflict and his or her internal dialogue are also revelatory.
Types of Characters
Stock Characters
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social
stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their
personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general
form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes, but they are often more
narrowly defined. Stock characters are a key component of genre fiction,
providing relationships and interactions that people familiar with the genre
will recognize immediately. Stock characters make easy targets for parody,
which will likely exaggerate any stereotypes associated with these characters.
Part of Character Development
1.
Facts
2.
Physical Description
3.
Attitude
4.
Dialogue
5.
Thoughts
6.
Reactions
7.
Events / Incidents
8.
Environment
FACTS
Physical Description
The most common way of describing a character.
Identifies anything physical about the character.
Includes height, skin, hair and eye color,
short/tall, skinny/fat, wear glasses?, how he/she
walks/stands, anything physical about the
character.
Example
He was a very tall, thin man, with a long nose like a beak,
which jutted out between two keen, grey eyes, set closely
together and sparkling brightly from behind a pair of goldrimmed glasses. He was clad in a professional but rather
slovenly fashion, for his frock coat was dingy and his
trousers frayed. Though young, his long back was already
bowed, and he walked with a forward thrust of his head
and a general air of peering benevolence.
--The Hound of the Baskervilles (A. Conan Doyle)
Attitude
This method of characterization is the readers description of the character’s
attitude.
The character’s attitude is how the character appears to feel about what is
happening to him/her in the story.
Similar to how you may describe your attitude if you were in a similar
situation.
Example
“She suffered constantly, feeling that all the attributes of a gracious life, every
luxury, should rightly have been hers.”
– “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.
In this quote from the popular short story we learn that the main character’s
attitude is one of resentment, feeling that she deserves a better life.
Dialogue
Dialogue is the way in which a character talk
Dialogue includes the characters choice of words and syntax.
It also includes the tone and diction of the character when he/she speaks.
Is the character serious? Sarcastic? Shy? Obnoxious? Ignorant? Etc…all
these qualities can be conveyed through the characters dialogue.
Example
“Come, we will go back; you health is precious. You are rich, respected,
admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed.
For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be
responsible.”
“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
Thoughts
The thoughts of a character can only be
analyzed if we are inside the head of the
character.
This means that you can only include an
analysis of a character’s thoughts if you
are told what the character is thinking.
Example of Thoughts
Anyway, I was sitting on the washbowl next to where Stradlater was
shaving, sort of turning the water on and off. I still had my red hunting
hat on, with the peak around to the back and all. I really got a bang
out of that hat.
"Hey," Stradlater said. "Wanna do me a big favor?"
"What?" I said. Not too enthusiastic. He was always asking you to do
him a big favor. You take a very handsome guy, or a guy that thinks he's
a real hot-shot, and they're always asking you to do them a big favor.
Just because they're crazy about themself, they think you're crazy about
them, too, and that you're just dying to do them a favor. It's sort of
funny, in a way.
Reactions
When analyzing the reactions of others you are looking
closely at how other characters in the story react to or treat
the character that you are characterizing.
Reactions include verbal responses and physical or
emotional treatment.
Character reactions can tell you if the character you are
analyzing is liked or disliked, popular, honest, trust-worthy
etc…
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is rife with the effects of one
character’s actions on others. When Lydia decides to run off
with the charlatan Wickham, she puts the whole family’s
reputation, as well has her own, at risk, and even involves those
outside her family, like Darcy.
Action or Incident
A character can be analyzed by looking at an action or incident and how
it affected them or how they reacted to it.
What action did the character take when confronted with a certain
situation.
Is there and incident in the characters past that has shaped them as a
character and affected the way they look at their life.
The action or incident determines the way the character develops as the
story goes on
In the novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton we learn that the narrator lost
his parents in a car accident when he was young. This accident happened
before the story began and is affecting the development of the main
character. In a character description you could explain how this incident
affects the characters development and give examples of its effect.
Physical or Emotional Setting
The setting of a story affects the
characters’ development as well as the
plot.
The physical setting of a story is where the
story is actually taking place and can
effect the way a character develops.
The emotional setting of a story is the
series of emotions that the character deals
with throughout the story.
Character Wall
Resources
http://hollylisle.com/how-to-create-a-character/
http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-write-character-analysis
http://foremostpress.com/authors/articles/3D_characters.html
http://creative-writing-course.thecraftywriter.com/writing-characters/
http://www.creative-writing-now.com/writing-character-profiles.html
http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/128/1/Creating-A-Character-Wall/Page1.html
http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html
http://similarminds.com/jung.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-100-favourite-fictional-characters-as-chosen-by100-literary-luminaries-526971.html
http://www.epiguide.com/ep101/index.htm